Focus on Microbiology Education Fall Volume 13 No. 1 Page 1

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1 N E W S M A G A Z I N E TABLE OF CONTENTS Addressing Current Issues in Infectious Diseases via Case-Based Learning Using Molecular Biology Simulations...2 A Bioinformatics Problem Space to Study Clostridium difficile Outbreak...6 Using Misinformation to Get Students to Be Rational Skeptics...8 NUTS AND BOLTS Constructing Knowledge Actively in Bacterial Genetics using Synthetic Biology...10 MEETINGS ASMCUE 2006: Recombination of Ideas in Teaching Microbiology...13 JOURNAL WATCH...14 WEB WATCH...15 ASM NEEDS YOU! Submissions are sought for visual and curriculum resources in the ASM s prestigious MicrobeLibrary. Deadline is November 1 From the Editor What s new? What s news? Current events can become teachable moments. We as microbiology educators have multiple domains from which to search for newsworthy items. Domains such as Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya organize the microbes we describe on the one hand, and on the other, domains such as dot com, dot edu, dot gov, and dot org provide additional media from which to gain information for classroom discussion. How long does it take before your students show up with a newspaper clipping or a page printed from the web? Not long, I suspect. This issue of FOME explores the use of current events to enrich microbiology education. Case histories provide a wonderful way for our students to learn about microbial diseases, for example, and much more. Karen Klyczek, Mark Bergland, and Mary Lundeberg s article describes the use of Case It! Software to explore case histories in human immunodeficiency virus where students meet (virtual) patients, and run (virtual) ELISA tests on samples from the patients. Ruth Gyure s article describes activities that can be used at different levels, depending on students academic backgrounds, to study an outbreak of Clostridium difficile. Jeffrey Pommerville addresses the issue of misinformation can students differentiate the meat of an article from the phony baloney? Check out the scorecard. Carlos Rios-Velazquez provides a hands-on method for students to build their own operons using Synthetic Biology to design an E. coli to detect chlorine in a contaminated sample. Don Breakwell and Jackie Reynolds report on ASMCUE 2006 in Orlando; what an informative meeting! Plan now to join us in Buffalo, N.Y., for ASMCUE Finally, Journal Watch and Web Watch return with some wonderful resources for your enjoyment. Lucy W. Kluckhohn Jones Editor FOME Focus on Microbiology Education Fall Volume 13 No. 1 Page 1

2 Newsmagazine Editorial Committee Lucy Kluckhohn Jones, Editor Santa Monica College 1900 Pico Boulevard Santa Monica, CA Brad Goodner Hiram College Hiram, OH Ruth Gyure Western Connecticut State University Danbury, CT Marie Panec Moorpark College Moorpark, CA Gary Kaiser The Community College of Baltimore County, Catonsville Campus Baltimore, MD Jennifer Herzog Herkimer County Community College Herkimer, NY Jean Kayira Production Editor American Society for Microbiology 1752 N St. NW Washington D.C jkayira@asmusa.org Any comments, questions or suggestions for the Focus on Microbiology Education newsmagazine? Please us at: MicrobeLibrary@asmusa.org Deadlines for the Focus on Microbiology Education newsmagazine: Fall Issue: August 1 Winter Issue: December 1 Spring Issue: March 1 Summer Issue: June 1 All Contents Copyright 2006 American Society for Microbiology All Rights Reserved ISSN Addressing Current Issues in Infectious Diseases via Case- Based Learning Using Molecular Biology Simulations Karen Klyczek and Mark Bergland University of Wisconsin River Falls Mary Lundeberg Michigan State University, East Lansing Karen Klyczek is a Professor of Biology at the University of Wisconsin River Falls and has been Chair of the Biology Department since She was the Principal Investigator for two National Science Foundation Teacher Enhancement Awards to provide biotechnology in-service training for secondary life science and agriculture education teachers. She has given numerous presentations and workshops on biotechnology education and has received National Institutes of Health funding for the study of gene regulation in tumor cells. In 2000 she was named the University Distinguished Teacher at the University of Wisconsin River Falls. Mark Bergland is a Professor in the Biology Department at the University of Wisconsin River Falls. He has been Principal Investigator for four National Science Foundation grants and also grants from the University of Wisconsin System to develop educational software. His software has been disseminated via the BioQUEST Library CD-ROM and the internet, and results of past projects have been presented at numerous professional meetings and workshops. He received the 1990 and 2003 Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year Awards and also the 2004 Scholarship Award for the College of Arts and Sciences, Science Division. Mary Lundeberg, Chair of Teacher Education at Michigan State University, received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1985 and was a faculty member in the Teacher Education Department at the University of Wisconsin River Falls from 1989 to She joined the Michigan State University faculty in Her research interests include assessing what and how students learn from technology projects, examining cultural and gender influences on confidence, and studying case-based instruction. In 1994, Mary was recognized as Teacher Educator of the Year in Wisconsin, and in 1999 she was awarded Outstanding Faculty Member in the College of Education at UW River Falls. The American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education presented her with the Best Practice Award for the Innovative Use of Technology in She is former Associate Editor of the Journal of Educational Psychology. Case studies based on current events can be powerful motivators to engage students in the scientific and social issues surrounding these events (3). The Case It! software package provides an electronic framework for students to investigate case studies that utilize molecular biology lab techniques and to share their results with peers via internet conferencing. We have developed cases on several currently relevant topics including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and AIDS, influenza (avian and human), West Nile virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome, and Ebola. The software and cases may be downloaded free of charge for educational purposes from the Case It! home page, (1). The Case It! project Case It! is a National Science Foundation-sponsored project that was initiated at a BioQUEST (4) faculty workshop in The goal of the project is to facilitate collaborative case-based learning in biology classes via molecular biology simulations and internet communication. The software that has been developed includes three main components: (i) Case It! Simulation. The simulation software includes tools for DNA and protein analysis. The current version (v. 5.03) includes DNA electrophoresis (Fig. 1), restriction enzyme digestion, PCR, Southern blot, dot blot, protein electrophoresis, Western blot, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Any nucleotide or amino acid sequence can be opened and analyzed, but we have included sequences associated with the case scenarios that are part of the software download. The cases that are currently available em- Focus on Microbiology Education Fall Volume 13 No. 1 Page 2

3 phasize genetic and infectious diseases. (ii) Case It! Investigator. Investigator is a separate software program that functions as an electronic resource manual and helps students gather background information about their cases. The most recent version includes video cases for HIV and AIDS that are set in both the U.S. and Africa. Investigator is customizable, so instructors can add their own resources. (iii) Case It! Launch Pad. The Launch Pad is a website that organizes the collaborative components of the project. It includes a web page editor and bulletin board system. Instructors can set up a class where students can work individually or in teams to build a web page poster. Each poster has a bulletin board discussion associated with it to facilitate communication via virtual poster sessions. Classroom implementation We have used the Case It! software extensively with introductory biology classes for nonscience majors. Students play the role of lab technicians as they analyze the DNA or protein sequences associated with their case. They use Investigator to gather additional background information about the case. They then prepare a web page that is linked to the Case It! Launch pad. In addition to interpreting the lab test results, students are asked to include a statement to the family members. They then play the roles of family members or other stakeholders as they use the conferencing system to ask questions of the other web page authors. They answer questions posed to their own web page in the roles of genetics counselors, AIDS counselors, or other roles appropriate for their case. Alternatively, the simulation software could be used on its own, with students presenting the results of their cases in the form of written reports, oral presentations, or other formats. Several cases have been developed that focus on HIV and AIDS. We obtained permission to use videos published by the Discovery Channel in the U.S. and Media for Development FIG. 1. The lab bench feature in the Case It! simulation software demonstrating agarose gel electrophoresis. The program keeps track of which DNA samples, restriction enzymes, PCR primers, or probes have been opened, how DNA samples have been modified, and which samples are loaded into the gel. Focus on Microbiology Education Fall Volume 13 No. 1 Page 3

4 International in Africa. These videos are incorporated into Investigator as part of the case scenarios (Fig. 2). The variety of case scenarios allows students to compare the circumstances faced by HIV-positive people in different parts of the world. For example, one case is about Anna, a United States immigrant from Guatemala, who finds out that she is HIV positive during her pregnancy. She is surprised, since she thought that she and her boyfriend were in a monogamous relationship. To analyze the case, students run an ELISA to test the blood of Anna, her boyfriend, and her baby for antibodies to HIV proteins (Fig. 3). They then run a Western blot to confirm any positive ELISA results (Fig. 4). These results can be saved as graphical images and uploaded to the web editor system. Students would write a statement to Anna explaining how she may have been infected and what the implications are for her health and the health of her baby. During the spring 2005 semester, an Introductory Biology class at UW River Falls interacted with a class of preservice science teachers at the University of Zimbabwe. Both groups of students had the opportunity to experience the cases from different perspectives through internet conferencing. Assessment Student understanding of the biological concepts underlying the diseases and lab tests, as well as their ability to address the social and ethical issues associated with the cases, has been assessed using pre- and posttesting, surveys, evaluation of the web pages and discussion messages, and focus group interviews (2, 3). The students in the spring 2005 Introductory Biology class improved their understanding of HIV and AIDS biology, based on the posttest results. They also self-reported more confidence in their understanding of the disease. Both groups of students reported that the cases made the issues seem more real, as indicated by these comments from students in Zimbabwe: To me it was an eye opener Since Zimbabwe is hard hit by HIV it is important to have this project CASE IT since it affects the students lives at large. The videos shown are touch- FIG. 2. Video cases in Case It! Investigator. Video cases are available for the HIV and AIDS cases. The Auxilia case, set in Africa, is shown. A transcript of the video appears in the right window while the video plays. Instructors can opt to have the video interrupted with questions designed to get students thinking about what they are viewing and how it relates to their understanding of HIV and AIDS. Focus on Microbiology Education Fall Volume 13 No. 1 Page 4

5 ing. These can help students feel it. The programme was also very interesting because it had cases of real people that got infected in different ways and situations and the counseling they were given and how some observed the advice and some ignored this advice and got themselves into worse trouble. Future directions We are continuing to add new features to the software. The most recent version of the software will open entire bacterial genome sequences for analysis. New infectious disease cases are being developed on topics including malaria, Salmonella, and various sexually transmitted diseases. If you are interested in contributing ideas for cases and/or having your class participate in the project, Mark Bergland at Acknowledgments This project was supported in part by the Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement program of the National Science Foundation (DUE Grant ). Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Science Foundation. References 1. Bergland, M. S Case It! Home Page. FIG. 3. ELISA results for the Anna case. The wells were coated with HIV proteins, and blood samples from Anna (first and second trimester), her boyfriend, and her baby, as well as positive and negative control samples, were added to the wells, and an ELISA was run. Samples containing antibodies to HIV proteins will produce color. According to the optical density (O.D.) results, Anna s first trimester sample (well C1) is negative, but her second trimester sample (D1) is positive. Her baby s sample (E1) also tests positive, while the boyfriend s sample (F1) is weakly positive. 2. Foster, A., V. Manakore, M. Phillips, M. A. Lundeberg, Y. Gwekwerere, M. S. Bergland, and K. K. Klyczek Understanding, confidence, perceptions, constraints, and affordances within a casebased multimedia environment. Paper presented at the ED-MEDIA World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia, and Telecommunications. [Online.] PaperDetails?CFID= &C FTOKEN= &presentatio n_id= FIG 4. Western blot results for the Anna case. HIV proteins were separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and the blood samples described in Fig. 3 were used in a Western blot. The positive control sample (lane 1) binds to all six HIV proteins (left to right largest to smallest gp160, gp120, p55, gp41, p32, p24). To be considered a positive result, two of the following proteins must be bound: gp120, gp41, p24. Anna s second trimester sample (lane 4) and the boyfriend s sample (lane 5) are positive. The baby s sample (lane 6) is considered indeterminate, since it is not completely negative, but it does not meet the requirements for a positive result. 3. Lundeberg, M. A., M. Bergland, K. Klyczek, K. Mogen, D. Johnson, and N. Harmes Increasing interest, confidence, and understanding of ethical issues in science through case-based instructional technology. Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation, document # ED431807TM [Online.] data/ericdocs2/content_storage_ 01/ b/80/11/91/90.pdf. 4. Stanley, E., and J. Jungck The BioQUEST curriculum consortium. [Online.] bioquest.org. Focus on Microbiology Education Fall Volume 13 No. 1 Page 5